The new team is full of promising players. Will this be the year we take home gold? Image: Giandomenico Ricci/flickr

After last year’s disappointing season, it looks like the Cascades women’s volleyball team will approach this year with the best potential we’ve seen these last couple years.

The women’s volleyball team is one of two Cascades teams to win a national title in the last 10 years. Their historic 2012-2013 season ended with an unforgettable national championship.

Now, the younger players that Coach Bokenfohr has been cultivating for the past couple of years are going to get their opportunities to shine for the first time this year.

These players include Jennica Noot and Juliana Penner, who have played together for more than six years in high school at the Pacific Academy, notably winning the AA division provincial title three years ago in their senior year of high school.

Last year’s recruits Claire McLoughlin and Monique Huber, who both performed admirably with the team, will get even more time on the court to show fans what they can do.

Even the redshirts from last year’s squad, Rachel Funk and Mandelyn Erickson, will get the opportunity to get on the court this upcoming season. Cascades fans will get the chance to see these girls on the court for the first time when they play the CBC Bearcats on October 17.

Coach Bokenfohr talked about the new look, the loss of some veteran players, and the influx of youth.

“It’s true we lost a couple of veteran players, and they will be hard to replace,” he said. “The new athletes in our program have a lot of experience, either in clubs or from transferring from other institutions. It’s exciting! There are plenty of unknowns as we start down the new path … we are confident if we are persistent that it will lead to a pretty awesome view at the end. We are prepared that it might kick our butt along the way, but we are prepared to put in the work necessary to watch where it might lead us.”

As if all this wasn’t enough for the women and Bokenfohr to deal with, the Cascades volleyball team has been neck-deep in talks about a potential CIS move in the near future ever since winning their national title.

Coach Bokenfohr claims that while all the talk is fun and exciting, he doesn’t think it changes things for the team.

“We just feellucky and blessed that we can come out each night and compete,” he said.
He noted that the prospect of CIS is interesting, but that he and the team are trying to stay in the present.

“If that happens in the future, well, that would be exciting!” he said. “But I plan to enjoy this year and give the ladies everything I have.”